The Scarlet Devil 2: Scarlet Devil Rhapsody
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: All characters belong to ZUN except for the ones that don't.

Chapter 2

My name is Sakuya Izayoi. I'm still the head maid at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, though it's more by choice than due to any real obligation. It's still a bit challenging remembering to address my former mistresses in a more familiar matter, but Remi-san insists. Other than that, not much has changed, since the girls always came to me for help with whatever was bothering them anyway.

"What's going on in there?" I yelled, hearing the sounds of a danmaku battle. "I thought you and Okuu-san didn't have danmaku battles!" I walked in.

"Okuu-chan brought a friend along!" Flandre said happily. "Orin-san and I are battling!"

"Looks like you're winning…but could you please try to tone it down? Your battles always leave such a mess…"

"Sorry, Sakuya-san!"

The "change of address", so to speak, cut both ways. I had never warranted an honorific before. Remilia usually still addresses me without an honorific, but now it's the same as she and Patchy not using honorifics with each other. She says that I'm free to do the same, but it wouldn't feel right. "…And yet you continue to go at it with murderous intent."

"What? Flan-chan, you wouldn't!" Okuu cried out. "Hey, Flan-chan, that's enough!"

Flandre reluctantly stopped her assault. "Aw, I was just playing!"

"I've seen you 'just playing', Flandre-san, and that was not just playing. Not anymore, anyway." She used to have a lot of trouble differentiating between playing and wanton destruction—or perhaps more accurately, she equated the two—but she had gained quite a bit of control over her impulses, or so I thought.

"Ah, thank you, Okuu… Flandre-san is very scary."

"I thought you weren't scared of anything, Orin? You're one of the few people who isn't afraid of me, after all."

"That's…" The kasha started blushing, and suddenly Flandre's actions made sense. "You're way too kind to be scary."

"I am very scary!" the hell-raven protested.

"Oh, of course! I just meant to me. I know how much you pride yourself on being intimidating, but…you're always sweet to me, so…"

"Well, yeah, Orin, you're my best friend…but that's because you didn't find me scary, even when we first met."

"Well, I guess I just didn't think someone so beautiful could be all bad…uh, I mean—" Utsuho was blushing, and Flandre was fuming. "Ah, that's not to say that you aren't, Flandre-san. I actually think you're very pretty. You have such beautiful wings, almost as lovely as Okuu's…eh?"

"It seemed like you needed a moment to collect your thoughts."

"What did you do to them?"

"I have the power to stop time. Normally, I just stop everything, but I can choose to allow others to perceive time normally."

"Er, thanks? Uh, Sakuya-san, was it?"

"It's no trouble. I know what it's like to wish you could take back something you just said to a secret crush."

"…Am I really that obvious?"

"Well, like I said, I can relate to your troubles. What I would like to do right now is encourage you, tell you that it all worked out for me and that it could for you, too. However, although I am officially a resident of this mansion now rather than an employee, I still feel the need to look out for Flandre-san's best interests."

"'Officially a resident now?' So then the one that you fell in love with was…your mistress, Remilia-san?" The kasha was blushing again; I wasn't quite sure why, seeing as how she clearly had feelings for Utsuho. Although, I hadn't actually seen the dynamic between her and her mistress, so it was possible that she had a lot more turmoil than I thought. "Well, I guess we're not so different…and I really don't want to get in the way of those two; Okuu's been so much happier since she met Flandre-san…"

"You…"

"No…forget I said anything. I think I probably misled you a bit."

"…Koishi-san, then?"

"It's…nothing, really. I mean, yeah, I really like her, but…even she seems to think that my heart is with Okuu."

"Isn't reading hearts her special ability? …Well, like I said, it's really none of my business. I'm sure you'll work it out."

CCX: This isn't exactly easy. Utsuho and Flandre are both characters who are pretty much insulated from the rest of Gensokyo, so there aren't as many narrators to go around. I suspect the majority of it will come from Utsuho's end, actually, as she's at least a resident of the Former Hell, whose characters we've already worked with before, and also has ties to the Moriya Shrine. Well, if nothing else, this here is a symbol that this fic is not dead. Ja ne!